Pakistans population to reach 242 million by 2030: Economic Survey

The population of the country is expected to reach 242 million by 2030 and half of the population will live in urban areas.

The facts and figures show that the estimated population in the rural areas decreased from 62.1 percent in 2013 to 59.46 percent in 2017.

According to data available on Economic Survey 2016-17, the population in urban areas increased from 37.9 percent in 2013 to 40.54 percent in 2017.

The government is well aware of this issue and is making sincere efforts to improve the quality of life of the population living in urban cities through planned urbanization.

For this purpose, the Ministry of Climate Change and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat) in Pakistan have been working closely on various initiatives related to sustainable urbanization and climate change.

These steps include policy formulation and implementation of climate change vulnerability and adaptation assessments and urban-related initiatives that contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The survey said urbanization has the potential to drive the country towards prosperity and competence.

However this process needs effective tackling of critical issues like improvement in service delivery, provision of infrastructure and housing, laws and regulations related to land use, planning and observing building code and solid waste environmental problems.

In Pakistan the urbanization trend is not different from other countries of the world, as Pakistan is also facing a rapid increase in urbanization caused by population growth, urban migration, and refugees’ migration.

Due to this there is an expansion of under-resourced urban settlements, which caused  unprecedented levels of economic, spatial, social, and infrastructural challenges and climate change impact.